No. 4.] CHEMICAL AND FARM MANURES. 133 



about for commercial fertilizers. It may be thought that 

 these remarks are not pertinent to the subject ; yet it must 

 be admitted that it is not an economical use of fertilizers 

 to indulge in their purchase while still permitting direct 

 and indirect manurial wastes to occur on every hand. The 

 question now arises, whether, by husbanding all of the 

 natural manurial resources of the farm, commercial fertil- 

 izers may not be discarded and permanent fertility main- 

 tained. Unfortunately, the experience of Europe proves 

 the contrary ; and, unless new and startling discoveries are 

 made, the future of agriculture in the United States, as is 

 to-day the situation in Europe, will be determined to a 

 marked extent by the supply and economical use of com- 

 mercial manures. To be sure, many a man who is fortu- 

 nately situated near a large city, where stable manure may 

 be had at a low price or for the hauling, will say that he 

 has no use for and cannot afford to buy other manurial sub- 

 stances. Admitting that such may ])e practically the case, 

 it cannot be denied that the great mass of farmers of a 

 growing number of States are dependent to a large degree 

 upon the use of commercial manures, and that these con- 

 ditions are becoming exaggerated every year. We are 

 thus brought face to face with the practical question of 

 what to buy, in order to most cheaply and satisfactorily 

 meet the peculiar needs of a vast number of plants and 

 a multitude of soils, possessed of varying physical and 

 chemical characteristics. Confronted with a question of 

 such great magnitude, beset with difficulties most of which 

 are as yet unsolved, it is only possible, especially in the 

 brief period at disposal, to touch upon a few of the more 

 essential features. 



Potash. 

 Unleached wood ashes, which formerly constituted our 

 chief supply of potash, are now not to be had in sufficient 

 quantity to supply the demand for this substance. Such 

 ashes constitute one of the safest and best sources of potash 

 for the major portion of our crops and soils. Aside from 

 an average of from 5 to 6 per cent of potash, they also 

 contain approximately 11 per cent of phosphoric acid, 3 to 



